Cleanliness In U.S. Hospitals

Editor’s note:
The following letter to the editor is in response to a previous letter published in the November issue of CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management®.

In the letter, the author discussed his feelings about the level of cleanliness in U.S. hospitals and areas that cleaners should focus on to maintain safe environments.

Below is a response from Barbara A. Behrens.

Letter to the editor:
The November 2007 issue carried a letter which appeared to point to environmental surfaces as the cause of nosocomial infections in hospitals.

The writer stated: “And, although doctors, nurses, and other medical staff have long followed standard precautions to deal with a variety of health care issues, this does not necessarily apply to how a hospital is cleaned and maintained.”

Floors, walls, and furnishings are rarely implicated in disease transmission.

Drug-resistant bacteria evolved from excessive and improper use of antibiotics.

For decades, antibiotics were prescribed freely, and patients often failed to complete the entire course of treatment.

Incomplete treatment gave us drug-resistant TB after patients were no longer confined in sanitariums and required to take all their medications.

It is no surprise to infection control practitioners that we also have other MDRO (multi-drug resistant organisms).